


You mean the world to me

by Space_Hawk



Series: Inktober 2020 [31]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Because I think she could make a good aunt, Childhood Memories, Fluff, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, M/M, Memories, Mentioned Azula - Freeform, Mentioned Ozai (Avatar), Sokka is also a Good Parent, This is really just Zuko being a much better father than bitchlord Ozai ever was to him, Who let me tag?, Zuko (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, and it's not really relevant but we're gonna pretend she got her redemption arc, mentioned Ursa, to baby Izumi, with a bit of Zukka thrown in
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27316531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Hawk/pseuds/Space_Hawk
Summary: All of the books that Zuko had read about parenting said that babies normally started to crawl at around 9 months, but Izumi had turned 11 months just a couple weeks ago. Apparently she just didn’t want to crawl.“You know, I was a bit of a late bloomer too,” he said, bouncing Izumi on his leg. “Everyone in the palace thought I was a nonbender for years."Inktober Day 31: Crawl
Relationships: Izumi & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Inktober 2020 [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950592
Comments: 8
Kudos: 233





	You mean the world to me

“Come on, you can do it! Come to Daddy,” Zuko said, patting his knees encouragingly, but there was no change.

His daughter sat on the floor a couple feet away, bright eyes staring back at him in confusion, as if she was wondering why he was so far away. 

“Come on, Izumi, you can do it!” He tried again. This time, Izumi babbled something unintelligible and clapped her hands, sending a bit of drool running down her mouth, but still no crawling. Zuko sighed. 

“You know what,” Zuko said as he went to pick up his daughter. “You don’t have to crawl if you don’t want to. You’ll crawl when you’re ready. It doesn’t matter if you’re a bit of a late bloomer.” 

All of the books that Zuko had read about parenting said that babies normally started to crawl at around 9 months, but Izumi had turned 11 months just a couple weeks ago. He had hoped that he would be able to coax it out of her by now, but apparently Izumi just didn’t want to crawl. Not that he could really blame her, being carried around everywhere was a pretty sweet deal.

“You know, I was a bit of a late bloomer too.” He began bouncing her on his leg, earning some happy giggles as she gnawed on one of her toys. “Everyone in the palace thought I was a nonbender for years and then one day, just after I had turned four, one of the servants taught me how to make origami dragons.”

“I ran to go show your grandmother my dragon because I was so excited, but I must’ve been a little too excited because when I went to show her how it could “breathe fire”, I actually lit the paper on fire! I was so surprised that I dropped the paper and accidentally burned a hole in the rug.” Zuko smiled at the memory.

“Normally my dad would’ve been furious at me for something like that, but he was so relieved that I was a bender he didn’t care. So I guess sometimes it just takes time for things like that.”

Izumi babbled something incomprehensible in response, but it made him laugh. With her chubby cheeks and jet black hair, she reminded him a lot of Azula when she was a baby and Zuko would pop his head over the side of her crib to watch her.

“You know, I remember when your Auntie Azula discovered her firebending,” Zuko continued. Izumi stared at him with wide eyes while she continued chewing on her toy. “She was only a bit younger than you were now. Couldn’t even speak yet, but she was throwing a fit because she didn’t want to take a nap. Your grandmother tried handing her this stuffed turtle duck to calm her down, but she set it on fire and threw it across the room,” he finished with a laugh.

Years later, he still remembered that memory vividly, having watched it all unfold from the doorway, even though he probably couldn’t have been much older than 3. At the time, the incident filled him with jealousy because he had wanted nothing more than to be a bender, but his time had come soon enough. Looking back on it now, Zuko could only laugh. They had both changed a lot since then, but his sister was still as fiery as ever.

“Hey babe.” Zuko was shaken loose from his thoughts as Sokka sat down besides him. “What’re up to?”

“I was trying to get Izumi to crawl,” he replied, placing her back on the floor amidst her pile of toys. “Guess I just got lost in some old memories.”

“Good memories or…” Sokka’s brow was pinched with concern. 

“Yeah, good memories,” Zuko confirmed, gently kissing the top of Sokka’s head before leaning his body against his. He let his eyes close as he rested his head against Sokka’s shoulder.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, silently sharing in each other’s warmth, until Zuko felt his side being nudged. 

“Holy shit, babe. Look,” Sokka whispered, as if not wanting to disturb the quiet.

Coming towards them was their daughter, slowly picking her way across the floor on all fours. 

Izumi was crawling.

“Holy shit,” Zuko breathed as Izumi crawled to them. She stopped at their feet and opened her arms, asking to be picked up. 

Zuko obliged, lifting her into their air and bringing her into his and Sokka’s embrace. 

“Izumi, you’re incredible.”

“Absolutely incredible,” Sokka echoed as they simultaneously pressed a kiss to her temples. 

Izumi giggled happily in response.

**Author's Note:**

> Holy shit, I can't believe I actually made it through the whole month. There were definitely times when it was a bit rough, but I'm so glad I was able to make it through to the end. I honestly don't think I've ever written this much in such a short time, but overall it was a such a fun experience. Thank you so much to anyone who read any of these fics and an extra big thanks to those who gave kudos or comments :)


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